Electric signaling



Patented Jan. l7, I899.

J. P. COLEMAN.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING.

Application filed Dec. 2, 1897.)

2 SheetsSheet I (No Model.)

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WITNESSES:

Nu. s|7,s5 3. Patented m. 17, I899. .1. P. COLEMAN. ELECTRIC SIGNALING;

Application filed Dec. 2, 1897.)

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheef 2.

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' a v WM UNITED STATES P TE T OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR vTO THE UNIOl\ SW'ITCII AND SIGNAL COMPANY,

SIVISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,853, dated January 17, 1 899.

Application filed December 2, 1 897., Serial No. 660,473. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- v Be it known that I, J OHN PREssLEY Com:- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Signaling, of which im-. provements the following is a specificationr The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in relays controlling circuits operating translating devices, whereby such circuits may be rendered inoperative sass of the deiiuer ining of the relay-magalthough the magnets of the relay may be deenergized, is one of the most serious troubles encountered in automatic block-sign aling. It has been attempted to overcome this diificulty by interposing fusewires in the signal-circuits with some success where only one circuit is controlled by the relay; but where two or more independent circuits-are controlled by the relayit has been found that only one of the circuits will be afiected'by lightning, and although the fuse of that circuit has been blown, thereby opening the circuit, the contact-points therein'w'ere fused together before the fuse-wire melted, and by reason of the fusing of such points the armature could not drop and the other circuits, the fuse-wires of which werenot afiected, would be held closed. Relays have been so constructed with one f the members of the circuit-closer formed llldQPGIldOIll; of the armature, which is included in ashunt-circuit around the signal, that although the contact-points inthe signal-circuit may fuse together the movement of the armature away from the relay-magnets will close the shunt-circuit around the signal or translating device, thereby in effect-breaking the signal circuit. While such construction andarrangement of relay and circuits will afford protection, it is also objectionable l' as a metallic circuit, although without a battery, is always'established when therelay is discharged, and thereby forms a path for .foreign currents through the translating device at a time when it is of vital importance that the translating device be entirely free from current influences. I

The object of the present invention is to provide for the breaking ofthe circuit of the signal or translating device without the formation of a circuit in the normal operation of the relay and for the shunting of the current from such circuit in case of the fusing of the contacts when the relay is denergized,

Intlfe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improved relay. Fig. 2 is. a plan view of the under side of the, relay. Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Figs. 1- and 2 of a double-point relay,and Fig. 5 is diagrammatic'view illustrating the application of the relay to signal-circuits.

In the practice of my invention the electromagnets 1 are secured in any suitable manner to the top plate 2, which in turn is supported by a cylindrical piece of glass 3, the lower edges of the latter being seated upon the base-plate 4. The cap-plate,'transparent side, and bottoin plate are held together by means of bolts 5, passing through the top plate and screwing into sockets 6 formed on the upper side of the base-plate. On the under side of the top plate are formed bearings 7 for the reception of pivot-pins 8, said bearings being arranged in suitableree lation to the poles of the elect-roinagnets 1,

which project down through the cap-plate 2.

cured to a contact-plate 13; Thiscontactplate is made of such a length and solarranged that one end will normallybear against the under side of the block 9 of insulating material, while the opposite end will 'bear against or lie in such relation to the contact-pink; that when moved by the en-' against the contact-pin. By reference to Figs. 1 and 3 it will be seen that the block 2 is so connected to the contact-plate 13 and to the armature-lever that the weight of the block will be sufficient to hold the right-hand end of the contact-plate normally against the insulated block 9, the pivotal support of the contact-plate being between the block 12 and the insulated block 9. It follows from this construction that during the normal operation of the relay-i. e., as long as the lefthand end of the contact can move away from the contact-point 1% to break the signal-circuit on the deenergizing of the magnet 1-the contact -plate will not have any material movement independent of the armature-lever. In case the left-hand end of the contact-plate should be fused by a heavy current, such as a stroke of lightning, to the contact-point 11, thereby preventing the end of the plate from dropping down when the magnet is deenergized, such point of fusion will become the center of movement of the contact-plate, whose right-hand end will, on the release of the armature by the magnet, drop down upon a bracket 15, formed of a metal plate secured to the block 9 of insulated material. It will be observed that the rocking movement imparted to the block 9 as the armature drops will move the bracket 15 a little to the right, and as the end of the contact-plate bears upon the bracket at such time they will rub one upon the other, thereby insuring a good electrical contact or connection between the plate 13 and the bracket.

It will be observed that in case of fusion of the plate 13 to the pin 14 such point of fusion or connection will form the center of movement or pivotal point for the plate 13 as it is lifted by the armature 11 and as it is forced down by the weight of such armature, block 12, and the weight of the plate itself, and, further, the weight of these severalparts is always operative to shift the armature away from the magnets, thereby avoiding any liability of the armature sticking, as is liable to occur when only the weight of the armature is available for that purpose. This constant flexing of the connection between the plate 13 and contact-point 14 will in a short time break such connection, whereupon the several parts will operate in their normal manner, as described.

Referring now to Fig- 5, it will be seen that the magnets 1 of the relay are connected in the usual manner to the rails of the tracksection.

such an arrangement of parts it follows that 1 One pole of the signaloperating battery a is connected to the armature-lever With when the magnet 1 is energized or the blocksection cleared the armature-lever and contact-plate will be raised, thereby closing the circuit-of the battery a on the signal. When the magnet is deenergized by the presence of the train on the track-section, the armature will drop, and if no connection had been formed between the contact-plate 13 and pin 14 the former will drop away from the pin, thereby breaking the signal-circuit. While the end of the contact-plate is free to move away from the pin 14, the opposite end of the plate 13 will be held, as heretofore described, against the block 9, so that no circuit will be formed through the bracket 15. If, however, the contact-plate 13 and pin 11 should be fused together, the dropping down of the armature-lever will force the right-hand end of the contact-plate against the bracket 15, thereby forming a circuit consisting of the armature-lever 10, contact-plate 13, bracket 15, and battery a. As this circuit will present less resistance than the signal-circuit the battery will be shunted from the latter and the signal allowed to go to danger. \Vhen the armature-lever is raised on the'passage of the train off the section, the shunt-eircuit will be broken and the current will then pass through the signal-circuit.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown my improvement applied to double-point relays. In such construction two armature-levers 10 and 10 are secured to the pivotally-mounted insulating-block 9, said lever being preferably arranged in line with the cores of the magnets 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. To each of these levers are pivotally connected blocks 12 and 12 which in turn are secured to contact-plates 13 and 13". The front contactpoints for these plates are formed bypins 14 and 14" and the rear contact-points by brackets 15 and 15.", secured to the block 9 of insulating material. As the weight of these double members would be considerable as compared with the power of the magnets a counterbalancing-weight 16 is adj ustably secured to an arm 17, secured to the block 9, and in order to limit the downward movement of the armature-levers and the several parts carried thereby the arm 17 is extended to the front of the block 9, so as to bear upon the stop 18, which is adjustably mounted in a plate 19, secured to the lower ends of extensions of the rods 20, employed for holding the magnets on the top plates 2.

It is characteristic of my improvements that the signal-circuit is always broken when the device is operating normally and that the shunt-circuit is never closed under the same conditions. It is also characteristic that the shunt-circuit is closed only in case of a fusion of the contact-pointforming part of the signal-circuit, and that as soon as such contactpoints are separated by the continual working of the armature-lever and contact-plate the apparatus will operate in itsnormal manner.

Although the movable parts of the relay.

are permanently inclosed in the supportingbase and so-protected from injury by dust, &c., the transparent sides of the base will enable the operator to inspect such inclosed parts. In order to enable the operator to test the signal-circuit, a small'opening 25, to permit of the insertion of a fine wire or needle, is formed through the base-plate 4 in line with the contact-plate 13. The contact-plate can be raised by such wire or needle against the pin 14, thereby closing the signal-circuit. In order to guide the wire or needle, a boss or projection 26 is formed on the base-plate and the opening 25- formed therethrough.

I claim herein as my invent-ion- 1. In arelay, the combination of front and rear contact-points, anindependently-movable contact-plate, an armature-lever adapted by reverse movements to shift the contactplate against the front and rear contactpoints respectively, and magnets for shifting said lever, substantially as set forth.

2. In a relay, the combination of front and rearcontact-points, an independently-movable contact-plate,a magnet and an armaturelever adapted to shift the con tact-plate against the front contact-point on the energizing of themagnet and when the magnet is denergized to efiect a closure between the plate and the rear contact point in case of the fusion of the plate to the front cont-act, substantialiy as set forth.

3. In a relay, the combination of front and rear contact-points, a contact-plate, an armature-lever adapted to shift the plate against the front contact-point, a magnet for shifting the lever, and means for preventinga closure between the plate and the rear contact-point duringthe normal operation of the relay, substantially as set forth. 7

4C. In a relay, the combination of a magnet, an armature-lever, a contact-plate pivotally supported by the lever, means for preventing a movement of the plate independent of the lever during the normal operation of the relay and front and rear contact-points, substantially as set forth.

5. In a relay, the combination of a magnet, a pivotally-mounted block, an armature-1e ver secured to said block, a contact-plate so 'pivotally mounted on the lever that its rear end will be held against said block, a front contact-point and a rear contact-point, the latter being secured to the pivoted block and insulated from the contactplate, substantially as set forth.

6. An electric circuit including a translating device in combination with a primary circuit-oontroller, operating to energize and deenergize the translating device, a normal open shunt-circuit around the translating de= vice, a secondary controller in the shunt'-' circuit and normally inoperative to close the shunt-circuit and electrically-controlled means for operating the controller in the Circuit of the translating device and for operating the secondary controller in the shunt*circuit when theprimary controller is rendered inoperative, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN PRESSLEY COLEMAN. 

